Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States

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    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/01

    Florida in the American Civil War provided troops, supplies, and support throughout the conflict. Following Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, Florida joined other Southern states in seceding from the Union. Secession took place January 10, 1861, and, after less than a month as an independent republic, Florida became one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America. Although the vote to secede passed 62-7, there was a relatively large and vocal pro-Union and anti-Confederate minority in the state, an element that grew as the war progressed.

    Florida being an important supply route for the Confederate Army, Union forces operated a blockade around the entire state. Union troops occupied major ports such as Cedar Key, Jacksonville, Key West, and Pensacola. Confederate forces moved quickly to seize control of many of Florida's U.S. Army forts, succeeding in most cases with the significant exceptions of Fort Zachary Taylor and Fort Pickens, which stayed firmly in Federal control throughout the war.

    Overall, the state raised some 15,000 troops for the Confederacy, which were organized into twelve regiments of infantry and two of cavalry, as well as several artillery batteries and supporting units. Since neither army aggressively sought control of Florida, many of Florida's best home-raised troops instead serving in Virginia in the Army of Northern Virginia under Brig. Gen. Edward A. Perry and Col. David Lang. The "Florida Brigade" fought with distinction in many of Robert E. Lee's campaigns, and twice charged Cemetery Ridge during the Battle of Gettysburg, including supporting Pickett's Charge.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/02

    The state of Illinois in the American Civil War was a major source of troops for the Union army (particularly for those armies serving in the Western Theater), as well as military supplies, food, and clothing. Situated strategically near major rivers and railroads, the state became a major jumping off place early in the war for Ulysses S. Grant's efforts to seize control of the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers.

    Illinois contributed 250,000 soldiers to the Union Army, ranking it fourth in terms of the total manpower in Federal military service. Illinois troops predominantly fought in the Western Theater, although a few regiments played important roles in the East, particularly in the Army of the Potomac. Besides President Lincoln, a number of other Illinois men became prominent in the army or in national politics, including Ulysses S. Grant (a resident when the war started), John M. Schofield and John A. Logan. No major battles were fought in the state, although several river towns became sites for important supply depots and "brownwater" navy yards. Several prisoner of war camps and prisons dotted the state, processing thousands of captive Confederate soldiers.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/03

    Tennessee in the American Civil War was the primary battlefield of the Western Theater. To a large extent the was was won in the mountains, rivers, cities and farms of Tennessee—only Virginia saw more battles. Among the last Southern states to secede from the Union, Tennessee saw more than its share of devastation from years of warring armies criss-crossing the state. Its rivers were key arteries to the Deep South, and, from the early days of the war, Union efforts focused on securing control of those transportation routes, as well as major roads and mountain passes such as Cumberland Gap.

    A large number of important battles occurred in Tennessee, including the vicious fighting at the Battle of Shiloh, which at the time, was the deadliest battle in American history (it was later surpassed by a number of other engagements). Other large battles in Tennessee included Stones River, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Franklin. Although the state became a part of the Confederacy, pockets of strong pro-Union sentiments remained throughout the war, particularly in the mountains in East Tennessee. The Vice President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, was a loyalist, as were a number of congressmen and state politicians. On the Confederate side, significant leaders included noted cavalryman Nathan B. Forrest and corps commanders Leonidas Polk and Benjamin F. Cheatham, as well as Governor Isham Harris.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/04

    Strategic location and a rich economy affected the role of Ohio in the American Civil War, providing troops, military officers, and supplies to the Union army. Due to its central location in the Northern United States and burgeoning population, Ohio was both politically and logistically important to the war effort. Despite the state boasting a number of very powerful Republican politicians, portions of Southern Ohio followed the Peace Democrats and openly opposed President Lincoln's policies. Ohio played an important part in the Underground Railroad prior to the war, and remained a haven for escaped and runaway slaves during the war years.

    The state raised nearly 320,000 soldiers for the Union army, behind only New York and Pennsylvania in total manpower contributed to the military. A disproportionate number of leading generals hailed from Ohio, including Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and Philip H. Sheridan. Five Ohio-born Civil War officers would later serve as the President of the United States, and the Fighting McCooks gained fame as the largest immediate family group ever to become officers in the U.S. Army. Ohio was spared many of the horrors of war, although Morgan's Raid in the summer of 1863 spread terror among the populace. Only two relatively minor battles were fought within the state's borders. Morgan's Raid in the summer of 1863 spread terror among the populace. Ohio troops fought in nearly every major campaign during the war. Nearly 7,000 Buckeye soldiers were killed in action. Its most significant Civil War site is Johnson's Island, located in Sandusky Bay of Lake Erie. Barracks and outbuildings were constructed for a prisoner of war depot, intended chiefly for officers. Over three years more than 15,000 Confederate men were held there. The island includes a Confederate cemetery where about 300 men were buried.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/05

    Missouri in the American Civil War was a border state which sent troops, officers, and supplies to both opposing sides, had its star on both flags, had state governments representing each side, and endured a neighbor-against-neighbor intrastate war even within the larger national war.

    By the end of the Civil War, Missouri had supplied nearly 110,000 troops for the Union Army and about 40,000 troops for the Confederate Army. Counting minor engagements, actions and skirmishes, Missouri saw over 1,200 distinct fights occurring in all areas of the state, from the Iowa and Illinois border in the northeast to the edge of the state in the southeast and southwest on the Arkansas border. Only Virginia and Tennessee exceeded Missouri in the number of engagements within the state boundaries. Conflicts and battles in the war were divided into three phases, starting with the Union eviction of Governor Jackson and pursuit of Sterling Price and his Missouri State Guard in 1861; a period of neighbor-versus-neighbor bushwhacking guerrilla warfare from 1862 to 1864; and finally Sterling Price's attempt to retake the state in 1864. The biggest battle in the war west of the Mississippi River was the Battle of Westport at Kansas City in 1864.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/06

    Among the roles encompassed by the state of Virginia in the American Civil War were breadbasket, battlefield, and national capitol. Virginia began a convention about secession on February 13, 1861 after six states seceded to form the Confederate States of America on February 4. The convention deliberated for several months, but, on April 15 Lincoln called for troops from all states still in the Union in response to the firing on Fort Sumter. On April 17, 1861 the convention voted to secede. With the entry of Virginia into the Confederacy, the decision to move the Confederate capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond was made on May 6 and enacted on May 29. Virginians ratified the articles of secession on May 23. The following day, the Union army moved into northern Virginia and captured Alexandria without a fight.

    The first and last significant battles were held in Virginia. The first major battle of the Civil War occurred on July 21, 1861; Union forces attempted to take control of the railroad junction at Manassas for use as a supply line, but the Confederate Army had moved its forces by train to meet the Union. The Confederates won the First Battle of Manassas (known as "Bull Run"in Northern naming convention) and the year went on without a major fight. The war was largely brought to conclusion by the surrender of the Confederacy's largest army, the Army of Northern Virginia, at Appomattox Courthouse.

    Richmond was the second capital of the Confederate States of America, after being moved from Montgomery, Alabama. The White House of the Confederacy, located a few blocks north of the State Capital, was home to the family of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. In April of 1865, Richmond was burned by a retreating Confederate Army and was returned to Northern control. Virginia was administered as the "First Military District" during the Reconstruction period (1865-1870) under General John Schofield. The state formally rejoined the Union on January 26, 1870.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/07

    The history of South Carolina in the American Civil War includes the war's first moments and its last. South Carolina had long before the American Civil War been a region that heavily supported individual states' rights and the institution of slavery. Political leaders such as John C. Calhoun and Preston Brooks had inflamed regional (and national) passions, and for years before the eventual start of the Civil War in 1861, voices cried for secession. South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union, saw the first shots of the Civil War when militants fired on a U.S. Navy warship bringing supplies to the beleaguered Federal garrison at Fort Sumter. The April 1861 Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter ignited what became a four-year struggle that divided the nation.

    South Carolina was a source of troops for the Confederate army, and as the war progressed, also for the Union as thousands of ex-slaves flocked to join the Union forces. The state also provided uniforms, textiles, food, and war materiel, as well as trained soldiers and leaders from The Citadel and other military schools. Relatively free from Union occupation until the very end of the war, South Carolina hosted a number of prisoner of war camps.

    Among the leading generals from the Palmetto State were Wade Hampton III, one of the Confederacy's leading cavalrymen, and Joseph B. Kershaw, whose South Carolina infantry brigade saw some of the hardest fighting of the Army of Northern Virginia.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/08

    Though no major battles were fought in New Jersey in the American Civil War, the state provided a source of troops, equipment and leaders for the Union during the American Civil War. Soldiers and volunteers from New Jersey played an important part in the war, including Philip Kearny and George B. McClellan, who led the Army of the Potomac early in the Civil War and unsuccessfully ran for President of the United States in 1864 against his former commander-in-chief, Abraham Lincoln.

    The Quaker population of New Jersey was especially intolerant of slavery. However, New Jersey ended up becoming the last of the northern states to abolish slavery by enacting legislation which caused the slow abolishment of slavery. Though New Jersey passed an act for the gradual abolition of slavery in 1804, it wasn't until 1830 that most blacks were free in the state. However, by the close of the Civil War, about a dozen African-Americans in New Jersey were still apprenticed freedmen. New Jersey at first refused to ratify the Constitutional Amendments that banned slavery. New Jersey was a major part of the extensive Underground Railroad system.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/09

    At the time of the American Civil War, Canada did not yet exist as a federated nation. Instead, the territory consisted of the seven remaining colonies of British North America and crown territory administered by the Hudson's Bay Company. The United Kingdom (and therefore its North American colonies) was officially neutral for the duration of the American Civil War and sympathies in the nation were divided. Despite this, tensions between Britain and the North were high due to incidents on the seas, such as the Trent Affair and the Confederate commissioning of the CSS Alabama from Britain. If the conflict had continued to escalate, Canada would probably have been the first target of Union forces. During the war, Britain thus reinforced its garrisons in Canada.

    At the same time, however, Canadians were almost universally opposed to slavery, and Canada had long been the terminus of the Underground Railroad. Close economic and cultural links across the long border also encouraged Canadian sympathy towards the North.

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/10

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/11

    Portal:American Civil War/Grand Parade of the States/12

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